Demir Pence Korsan Adam

Iron Claw the Pirate

Onar Films

Web: http://www.onarfilms.com/

Director Cetin Inanc is a favourite among cult cinema aficionados; he created unique low budget Turkish films in every possible genre and even today continues to make TV productions in Turkey. His earliest films (around 1969-1971) were erotic Turkish films but after pressure from Turkish censors he moved onto Western and Action films. Some of his most revered films are his super hero films which bring together lots of action, girls, executions and evil masked enemies. Iron Claw the Pirate is one of his earliest super hero films made years before “Vahsi Kan, The man who saves the world” which made him a household name in Turkey. Most of his films are best considered low budget, strong on action and fairly short on character development and plot, indeed Inanc is known as “Jet” in Turkish cinema circles due to the short time it take him to churn out a film!

Iron Claw the Pirate is a very rare film and once again Onar has done a sterling job bringing it to DVD, considering the age of the film it is a pretty damn good transfer with only minor problems and they are only a few scotches here and there. The sound is very clear and the music rather cool. As with most Onar films it is a limited run, this time of 500 copies so collectors need to get in quick.

Iron Claw the Pirate begins with a great 1960’s mood, there is the smooth jive of a Jazz band playing in the background and a sexy girl dancing to the music. As soon as the mood is established we receive our introduction to the villain. Strangely masked villain Fantomas sends a video message to his henchman Behcet and his army of secret agents. He informs them that he will soon return to Istanbul to re-establish his crime empire and deal with nemesis Iron Claw.

At the same time we are introduced to the hero, Iron Claw. In a meaningful scene Iron Craw is handed a gun by “the Uncle” and told that this weapon is to be used to destroy not only Fantomas, but all evil guys. Iron Claw wears a strange “Batman” like outfit and has a rather nice motor bike to complete his image, he not only has a sexy offsider (a female “Robin”) but works hand in hand with the local police.

As the film unfolds, we get treated to a subplot about a gang war between the local mafia and the Fantoma crime empire and things get complex with stories of microfilm and secret weapons, sabotage and betrayal. Of course, as things get heated, Iron Claw saves the day, but never before lots of people are shot and killed and as much fisticuffs as each scene can allow. Iron Claw seems to be a successful hero but only at a great cost, the climax of the film seems to involve a vast number of Villains shot, stabbed and killed, it seems Fantomas must be stopped at any cost !

Iron Claw is a surprisingly fun film, obviously made on a low budget but packed with shootings, beatings, fisticuffs and sexy babes doing erotic dancing. The subtitles are well, rather strange, and at times make the film far more amusing than was originally intended, but this just adds to its cult movie status. For a low budget film it is rather well filmed with nice locations and some modicum of style, I especially like the scene where the camera slowly glides down through a cross section of a building showing the fights on each level and finally as it reaches the bottom all the heroes meet to head into the next battle.

Iron Claw is not only a rather enjoyable romp but comes with some rather impressive extras. The major one is a documentary on director Cetin Inanc. This is hosted by Cetin Inanc fan club member Gokay Gelgec, who gives us an extensive overview of the director's career - from earliest releases through his major Turkish cinema successes to his later work on TV shows. The documentary opens with a great selection of wild action scenes from various Inanc films and these are continued throughout, it runs for about 30 minutes and really helps put Iron Claw into context.

In addition, there is a stills gallery of images, including some original theatrical poster art and lobby cards as well as filmographies and biographies for Karahan and Gencer. There are also a selection of trailers.

An added bonus is the poster included with the DVD.